Attachment-hook for elastic or extensible cords, &amp;c.



N0. 63|,678. I Patented Aug.'22, I899. I

G. H. SHEPHERD. ATTACHMENT HOOK FOR ELASTIC 0R EXTENSIBLE 00808, &c.

(Application filed June 6, 1899.)

(No Model.)

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NITED- STATES ATENT mes,

GEORGE HENRY SHEPHERD, OF PARIS, FRANCE.

, SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 631,678, dated August 22, 1899.

Application filed June 6, 1899 Serial No. 719,629. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

- Be it known that I, GEORGE HENRY SHEP- HERD, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at Paris, France, have invented new and useful Improvements in and Connected with Attachment-Hooks for Elastic or Extensible Cords and the Like, (for which I have applied for a patent in Great Britain, No. 5,231, dated March 9, 1899, and in France, No. 285,277, dated January 25, 1899,) of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a novel attachment-hook designed to be applied to the ends of elastic or extensible cords, &c., generally formed of strands of india-rubber and which have for some years been very generally used, particularly in the manufacture of gymnastic apparatus known as exercisers. The hook attachments, ligatures, and the like hitherto employed for this purpose do not possess the necessary strength required for this kind of apparatus. A cord provided with such hooks becomes deteriorated and to a certain extent cut or worn at the end after it has been more or less used, and it eventu ally becomes useless by breaking at the part where the hook is attached. My new or improved attachment-hook obviates this disadvantage, inasmuch as the part of the cord or the like to which it is attached is not weakened, but is, on the other hand, strengthened. A cord, therefore, which is provided with my hooks no longer has a tendency to rupture at the point of attachment of the said hooks, as such rupture always takes place at the weakest point.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a side view of an attachment-hook made according to the invention and shown fitted tov a cord. Fig. 2 is a plan view, and Fig. 3 an end View, of the hook; and Fig. 4 is a view drawn to a smaller scale, showing the method of securing the hook to the cord.

The hook attachment is made of metal Wire, preferably of circular section, the said wire being wound in spiral coils a a, similarly to a spiral spring,and having one end bent back to form a hook or'eye b, which I term the attaching device. The coils a a are pressed as closely as possible together, so as to form a tubular portion, the inside diameter of which is practically equal to the diameter of the cord or rope c, to which the hook is to be fitted.

The hook is secured in position as follows that is to say, the cord 0, to which it is to be secured, is turned back at its end for a length a little greater than that of the tubular part formed by the coils a a of the hook. The doubled end of the cord is then gripped in a suitable clip, such as that shown atd in Fig. 4, so that a loop e is formed. A wiref is then passed through the loop e and through the tubular part of the hook attachment and is pulled so as to stretch or elongate the portion of the cord forming the loop e. As a result of this elongation the diameter of the cord is reduced sufficiently to enable the tubular part of the attachment-hook to be passed over the doubled or looped end thereof. The wire is then released, and the looped end e of the cord increases in diameter and is strongly compressed in the tubular part of the hook. The attachment-hook is thus fitted in position with great speed, and it is afterward only necessary to cut off the end of the cord which extends beyond the tubular part of the hook. This method of attachment afiords the best protection against the tearing off of the hook. The tubular portion of the device, formed by the coils a a, provides an annularly or transversely ribbed or corrugated internal surface, against which the doubled portion of the cord is forced whenit expands, thus pressing portions into the grooves formed between the coils and preventing the disengagement of the cord from said tubularportion. The pull upon. the cord can therefore be increased until the said cord breaks without detaching the hook and without causing the cord to rupture. at the point of attachment of the hook.

The hooks are manufactured, according to the different diameters of the cords to which they are to be attached, in such a manner that they can be secured as above indicated in a very short time, thus effecting a notable economy in the time employed for this operation.

It will be obvious that the hook attachments can be made in any suitable known manner and that the hooks or eyes proper can be made of any desired shape.

Having now particularly described and as certained the nature of my said invention and in What manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is 1. The combination with an elastic cord, of an attaching device therefor provided with a tubular portion having a longitudinally-extending aperture of less diameter than the portions of'the cord within the same and having the inner Walls of said aperture transversely ribbed, said cord being stretched longitudinally and contracted laterally to enable it to be passed through said aperture and being allowed to expand laterally Within said ribbed aperture, whereby the elastic cord will be pressed into the recesses between the ribbed portions to secure it firmly within said tubular portion, the engagement of said elastic cord with said ribbed portion forming the sole connection bet-ween the attaching device and said cord, substantially as described.

2. The combination with an elastic cord, of an attaching device therefor provided with a tubular portion having an internal diameter substantially the same as a single strand of said elastic cord, said tubular portion being ribbed transversely on its interior, said elastic cord being doubled, and said doubled portion being stretched longitudinally and contracted laterally to enable it to be passed through said tubular portion and being allowed to contract longitudinally and expand laterally to press portions of the elastic cord between the ribbed portions to firmly secure the cord in said tubular portion, the engagement of said ribbed portion with said elastic cord forming the sole connection between said attaching device and said cord, substantially as described.

3. The combination with an elastic cord, of an attachment-hook formed of a single piece of Wire having a portion wound spirally to provide a tubular portion provided with an internal laterally-ribbed surface, and a portion at one end of said tubular portion bent to form an attaching device the internal diameter of said tubular portion being substantially equal to the diameter of said cord, said cord having a portion doubled and stretched longitudinally and contracted laterally to enable it to be passed through said tubular portion and allowed to contract longitudinally and expand laterally to press portions of the cord between the ribbed portions of the tubular portion to secure said attachment-hook firmly to said cord, the engagement of said elastic cord with the said ribbed portion forming the sole connection between said attaching device and said cord, substantially as dcscribed.

GEORGE HENRY SHEPHERD.-

\Vitnesses:

THOMAS D. LITTLE, LEON CIIAN'rER. 

